Back in December I was writing about the serendipity of snow and about things that happen just when you need them to. Well, a few mornings earlier I’d opened an unexpected email from an editor at Immediate Media - the publishers of Today’s Quilter - asking if I’d consider presenting tutorials on their TV channel, the Sewing Quarter. I showed it to my boys and, oh, how we laughed.
Twenty four hours later I opened the next instalment of the Makelight Advent Calendar and the prompt that morning was Do Something Brave in 2018. It felt like Emily and Stef had posted that one just for me. Could I? Should I? With Emily’s encouragement I signed up for a screen test (two words I never thought I’d find myself writing...) and early in that brave new year caught the train to the Sewing Quarter studio in Birmingham, with a suitcase full of samples and tummy full of butterflies.
Scroll forward to March: I was booked for my first show the next day and it was snowing again. Rather heavily. Trains were being cancelled left, right and centre so I felt incredibly lucky to actually get to my hotel and early - so very early - the next morning dragged my suitcase through the snowdrifts to the studio. And so my adventure began...
Setting up for the show...
The slightly chaotic weather conditions meant that I didn’t really have time to be nervous, as actually getting to the studio seemed like a triumph. And, of course, when I did arrive it was to an incredibly warm welcome from presenter John Scott and the production team for that morning, Paul, Mike and Wayne. Putting together four hours of live television every single day really is no mean feat, so their enormous professionalism and good humour mean that small hiccups like the transport network grinding to a halt are all in a morning’s work.
A sneaky peek of one of John Scott's fabulous shirts...
It’s been an incredibly busy couple of months and, three shows in, I finally found the presence of mind to take a few behind-the-scenes snaps. As you can imagine, the office is full to the brim with gorgeous handmakes and craft books.
In that first snowy show, on March 2nd, I demonstrated my Day Out quilt and Happy Wanderer bag...
Followed by the Make Sail quilt and Seagull block on March 25th...
And last Saturday, April 14th, we made the To Skye quilt and my Hearth & Home project from Today’s Quilter...
UPDATE: On June 2nd I demonstrated the Auriculas project from Today's Quilter and my Pennine Star quilt...
If you missed them they’re all available on YouTube...sorry...
Nicola xx